Hi, FatCatGotHot.
The Hi-ball in the middle of the chain did not have a very long life DowNunda. It was found that having the chain riding that bit higher caused a LOTTT of high-up break-offs, leaving a LOTTT of stumps to extract. I never did get to use one and I'm not the tiniest bit sorry for that. I was told by a couple of blokes who did use them that they were an absolute mongrel of a thing to load and to transport from one job to the next.

A shower of rain sure did make that chain slide along a lot easier though.

There are quite a few places still in DowNunda where re-filling a 100 gallon water tank 10 feet in the air would be quite the logistical exercise. After all, we are the driest non-Arctic continent on Earth.

Just my 0.02.

Hi Deas how are you? i use to drive for a nice old guy named dick fisher from moura Pd8 hs} he told me about pulling with wire rope attached to the chain 50 ft back on each side 20 ft shorter than the chain, so it would rise up being lighter and start the trees leaning so you didnt lean as many trees like you do with just the chain and the fifty feet back was so you could step out the chain without hurting the rope He showed me the front page of the courier mail of him get the first d9 es at hastings he had water tanks in the canopy for fires and plumbed in to rad for extra cooling power shifts dont like that constant load in not real heavy scrub real heavy black but scrub one tractor is resting while the other is leaning a tree for the chain to skid up these old power shift es had dry clutches and he had blowers blowing air into the steering clutch compart ments his son told me, those old es put the power line to the moura mine and if you ever stop on the mt morgan range and look out it was so steep they use to stop oil would get away from power box pick up so 5 more gallons went in to get them moving again also drove for ted aboutt in toorum three d9 gs before that he had 21 allises use to pull with an outside tractor one in the middle then one inside dont know if he did that with the 9s the ball was used around moura i think but to hard to pull out the mellon holes i was told but when they got stuck on a big black they worked so one side of cain was high then both go and the bit more height on one side would be enough to pull them over
they also had letounos tree crusher things out side moura use to just had a big bar out front climbed over the trees and had chain at the back where drum steered them no liked them to many stumps from pushing to high so they were left at ridings road just left sitting there i have a pic of one somewhere a fella name david trvillion got one i think enuff rambling this was all when qld gov open up the briglow blocks in the 60s

Hi, Keloz.
All of my chaining experience was in Western Australia in the late 1960s - early 1970s. I used mostly D7s and D8s, although at one time I did get to do a bit with a D6C on the inside and a D4D on the outside in light scrub - 'cos the D4D was close handy and the other D6 was around 250 miles away on another job. Gotterdunn. I even got run a couple of Kummagutsas, a D60 and a D80, matched up with a D6C and a D7E respectively.

We always tried to run one direct drive machine and one powershift machine, preferably with the powershift machine on the inside but only if it was equal to or bigger than the outside machine.

Overheating wasn't much of a problem 'cos chaining was always regarded as a 'winter sport', done after some rain had fallen and the ground was a little more moist so that more trees were pulled out and less broken off. That it was a 'winter sport' sometimes led to 'that sinking feeling' - - - if you get my drift.

All good fun.

Just my 0.02.

Hi Deas,

I have another land-clearing tractor in the making to join the 1/48 CCM D9G. I started with the 1/50 Conrad D9G as a donor - since it has a flat hood and is a notch smaller, I converted her to a D9E. Prototype for this model is the D9E as on display in the Technik Museum Sinsheim, with U-blade an rear ccu, but with a scrub canopy. And it is a 49A direct drive! Didn't know about one DD and one PS tractor is a perfect match for scrub pulling.

Caterpillar D9 by pilot_micha

Since the Conrad D353 is very toy-like, I built a D353 from scratch so it matches the high-detail CCM model better.

IMG_20200228_212330 by FatCatGotHot

CAT D9E D353 001 by FatCatGotHot

CAT D9E D353 002 by FatCatGotHot

This project is fun.


Best regards,
Max

"FatCatGotHot" wrote:

Hi Deas,

I have another land-clearing tractor in the making to join the 1/48 CCM D9G. I started with the 1/50 Conrad D9G as a donor - since it has a flat hood and is a notch smaller, I converted her to a D9E. Prototype for this model is the D9E as on display in the Technik Museum Sinsheim, with U-blade an rear ccu, but with a scrub canopy. And it is a 49A direct drive! Didn't know about one DD and one PS tractor is a perfect match for scrub pulling.

Caterpillar D9 by pilot_micha

Since the Conrad D353 is very toy-like, I built a D353 from scratch so it matches the high-detail CCM model better.

IMG_20200228_212330 by FatCatGotHot

CAT D9E D353 001 by FatCatGotHot

CAT D9E D353 002 by FatCatGotHot

This project is fun.


Best regards,
Max

Hey, Max. I have visited the Technik Museum Sinsheim several times on business trips to Deutschland. For many years I conducted manufacturing R&D for a startup company near Frankfurt that was eventually purchased by BASF. A fantastic museum. I highly recommend it to anyone traveling to Germany. BTW, my ancestors (George Henry Puffer) came to America from Hesse in 1632. He was one of the founders of Quincy and Braintree, Massachusetts. Stay well, Ray

Hi, FatCatGotHot.
That is some nice work on that model. Hope to see some photos of the completed project. Hint, hint.

Just my 0.02.

Hi Deas,

thanks mate. I always wanted to have a D9E scale model, see story further down.We are facing a major lock-down here in Germany because of the coronavirus. And right now it is not sure if I can start working on the scrapedozer with begin of April as planned. So time-wise, you could see some further progress soon. BUT: I can't find any decent tracks for this model right now and am holding my money. Conrad produced a nice single-grouser, 13mm wide track set. No longer available, will be reproduced maybe in summer.

I have another CCM model, a 988 log loader, though.... Have you ever heard of a heavy wheelloader used for pulling scrub? LOL, not heavy duty clearing, rather like: Hey, let's do some fence line clearing, the 988 on that dirt road for best footing - and the D9G on the inside. Or is this complete nonsense? - and would result in a 988 with spinning tires pulled backward because of this one stubborn tree.... I have seen a video of a D275A matched to a D6- or D7 sized Komatsu pulling regrowth. And I remember the story how you used a G350 grader for push-loading big (Cat 660?) scrapers and found the grader did it somewhat better than a D8H. So, I have some little hope for my idea.

Well, when scale modeling is like real life: Our D9E is in the shop to get a new UC, so what you think, mates - can we hook up the 988 to pull some regrowth?



Hi Ray,

thanks for the feedback on the Sinsheim Museum! It is a special place for me, because it was my first time in the seat of a big CAT:

Back in the 1990ies, the D9E now on display in the Auto &Technik Museum Sinsheim was still in the backyard and not for public. My father and I had a wonderful visit in this museum on a sunny day back in 1996 and on the way back to our car, I saw something huge and yellow - with strange pulleys and cables - through a fence. What was that thing? Just in this second, a well-dressed lady stopped nearby in her car and said: "Oh, that's the bulldozer of my son. He is the owner of this museum - I will go and you can have a look at this Caterpillar." And so, aged 14, I had the opportunity to climb on a D9, and he told me what a pony engine is and how to start the big diesel with it. And that back in the day, cable-operated dozer blades did the trick very well. The biggest dozer I have seen before in real life was a D7H, so I was really impressed. Since this day, a D9E with a cable blade is the most beautiful track-type tractor for me.

CAT D9E Sinsheim backyard 1996 by FatCatGotHot



With best regards,
Max

Hi Neil,

yes, the D9 is sittin on a staple of railroad ties in one of the buildings. A little bit sad, cause she was shown in action on tractor days by the Museum around 1990, and in 1996 I was told she will get a refurbished UC to be kept running. The sprockets a very down. Instead, she recieved a paint overhaul and was lifted inside through the roof. I don't think she will ever run again, but she's safe.